Diane Keaton

Diane Keaton

Alex Trenoweth examines the life of "Annie Hall" actress Diane Keaton through the lens of astrology.

Alex Trenoweth examines the life of “Annie Hall” actress Diane Keaton through the lens of astrology.

Diane Keaton was born 5 January 1946. Her first professional stage debut was in 1968 in the musical Hair. During that year, Saturn was in the middle of three oppositions to natal Jupiter in Libra. Natally, Keaton’s Saturn is in Cancer, a sign noted for its shyness. She achieved notoriety when she refused to disrobe in Hair at the end of act one. She is also said to be as reclusive as Betty Garbot and is a staunch opponent of plastic surgery.

Her first significant film role was in The Godfather in 1972 as transit Saturn was conjunct her natal Uranus. Francis Ford Coppola cast her because of her eccentricity, a trait associated with planet Uranus. Keaton would claim she was known as the “kooky actress” in the film industry. The film ended up becoming the highest grossing film of 1972 and would win the Best Picture Oscar of that year. Two years later as Jupiter squared her natal Uranus, she reprised her role for The Godfather II.

After a number of collaborations with Woody Allen, Keaton landed the role of a lifetime in Annie Hall in 1977, her most famous role. Jupiter in Libra is noted for its love of fashion and as it was conjunct Uranus that year, it should be no astrological surprise that Keaton’s wardrobe favouring men’s clothing accessories made her an unlikely fashion icon of that era. Later that year, in a departure from her eccentric roles, she was cast as the lead in Looking for Mr Goodbar. Time magazine praised her for her choice whilst simultaneously criticising the role available for women:

“A male actor can fly a plane, fight a war, shoot a badman, pull off a sting, impersonate a big cheese in business or politics. A female can play a wife, play a whore, get pregnant, lose her baby, and, um, let’s see. . .Women are presumed to be dull. . .” Love, Life and La-De-Dah, TIME magazine, 26 September 1977.

Keaton continued to rack up awards and accolades for Manhattan (1980), Reds (1981), Shoot the Moon (1983) and Marvin’s Room (1997). But as Jupiter again squared her natal Uranus, she won several awards for Something’s Gotta Give (2003). In it Keating plays a professional, divorced woman who, quite unusually, holds no bitterness for her ex-husband.

Jupiter will once again square her natal Uranus in 2016 when her next film, Finding Dory, is due to be released. The film is a sequel to Finding Nemo and Keaton will play the forgetful Dory’s mother.